I first heard the Crafts’ story as a student in American History class in a South Carolina high school. My teacher shared how the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was first tested with a couple in Boston who recently escaped slavery. Mass protests made a mockery of the enslavers’ efforts, the Crafts eluded capture by escaping, and the slave-catchers returned to Georgia empty-handed. I remember that the story seemed more complicated than that, but even then, I did not pick up the nuances. Twenty-five years later, I reencountered the Crafts in Woo’s biography, and I learned their full story. Boy, I am grateful that I did so because it enlightened, entertained, and inspired me in many ways.
William and Ellen Craft were born as enslaved people in early nineteenth-century Georgia. They met in Macon as adults. Ellen is nearly white in complexion, but by the “one-drop rule,” having one black parent made her black. By Georgia law, she was “owned” by her father. Both William and Ellen became skilled artisans, but earned money only for their “masters.” After falling in love, they plotted their escape. Ellen, a skilled seamstress, would dress as a privileged white man and leave Macon on a train, with William in tow appearing as her slave.
They went from Macon, to Savannah, Charleston, Baltimore, and eventually Philadelphia, with many humorous yet frightening experiences along the way. They eventually ended up on the lecture circuit across New England in the late 1840s before settling in Boston. In the US Congress, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was formulated as a compromise between North and South. By federal law, Northern states would now have to allow slave-catchers freedom to re-enslave their “property.” The Crafts would be the first test case of Northern will.
In Boston, a mob of free blacks, many with arms and sworn to fight to the death, encountered these Southern slave-catchers. After several days of getting the run-around, the hunters returned to Georgia unsuccessfully while the Crafts fled to Canada en route to Liverpool, England. They toured England on the lecture circuit, were formally educated how to read and write, and started a family. They continued to speak out against slavery and celebrated its ending in America in the 1860s.
Kudos to Woo for revamping this story for the reading public! Anyone sympathetic to the human plight for freedom will find themselves in this book, especially students of history. Those engaged in professions of history, especially on the Eastern seaboard, will benefit from understanding how the culture of the original 13 colonies formed itself in America’s early years. We’ve been recently reminded that American history isn’t as far past as we might like to think, and this book can teach us how human ignorance and national politics can imprison us all. Thus, this book can help convey a sense of social justice in our present and future. Ellen and William Craft form noble – but sometimes tragic – heroes with creative, unique, entertaining stories. Their stories need to be known more widely, and Woo is a more-than-suitable translator for us today.
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom
By Ilyon Woo
Copyright (c) 2023
Simon & Schuster
Release Date: January 17, 2023
ASIN: B0B3Y6S4TZ
Page Count: 416
Genre: Biography, American History
www.amazon.com